Untitled [nude seated on studio floor] 1955 - 1967

Richard Diebenkorn made this drawing of a nude, maybe in the studio, with ink on paper. I like the way he's captured the feeling of the human body in such a loose and suggestive way. You can see the scribbled lines, the quick strokes of the brush. I imagine him, brush in hand, circling the figure, trying to capture a likeness. Is he trying to find the right line, the right curve to express the model's form? Or is he using the figure as a starting point for something else? The ink is kind of watery in places, pooling and bleeding into the paper. The paper absorbs all the marks and gives it that slightly brown and aged look. It’s a beautiful drawing and feels really immediate, as if we're looking over Diebenkorn's shoulder as he works. It's like a quick notation, but one that also has a lot of feeling. Like a good poem!